Five Chimneys: A Woman Survivor's True Story of Auschwitz (Revised)

Five Chimneys: A Woman Survivor�s True Story Of Auschwitz [Illustrated Edition] | Olga Lengyel

On our first day in Poland our guide handed us a small pouch with a rock from Israel and the enclosed journal entry from a prisoner of the Warsaw Ghetto. She asked us to swap the rock at any time throughout our journey with another rock from Poland, that we would return to Israel. Outside the crematorium of Auschwitz I found this heart shaped rock. 👇🏼

Cinfhen The pictured book was written by a family friend who survived 3 death camps: Majdanek, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. She with her mother & sister are the only known related survivors to have 3 consecutive tattooed numbers, as most families were separated immediately upon arrival. Powerful to walk in her footsteps this past week. 5y

BarbaraBB Heartbreaking these stories. And how beautiful that you found a heart shaped stone. ❤️ 5y

TrishB That rock is something special 💜 5y

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TrishB And heart breaking story 💔 5y

JennyM So heartbreaking x 5y

Cinfhen Thank you @TrishB @BarbaraBB YOU BOTH know the significance for me, of heart shaped objects so it really was extra special 💗 5y

Cinfhen “If by some miracle, I survive this madness, perhaps I should bring a stone from Nalewki Street to the Land of Israel and place it alongside the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. When Jews come on pilgrimage to that sacred site, they could also weep over this stone for the loss of all of their loved ones, for the destruction of a large segment of the Jewish people. 👇🏽 5y

Cinfhen They will bewail the extinction of a central powerhouse in Judaism- Polish Jewry - as they mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple.”
Diary of Hillel Seidman
January 15, 1943 5y

squirrelbrain Wow, that brings tears to my eyes. 💔 5y

Cinfhen I‘ve been a weepy mess for the last 6 days @JennyM @Centique all your love, good wishes and words of strength are truly treasured xxx 5y

Cinfhen I don‘t mean to sound flippant @squirrelbrain but it was a life changing trip 😢thank you for your kindness and love 😘 5y

squirrelbrain That certainly doesn‘t sound flippant at all Cindy - I can totally see how it would change your life. I think that you were both incredibly brave to undertake such a trip and I hope that you can process all of your feelings in due course. 5y

Scochrane26 My pastor‘s daughter went to Europe on a school trip last summer, & she had a profound experience at Auschwitz (think that‘s where they went). (edited) 5y

KarenUK I can‘t even imagine how emotional that trip must have been.... 😘💕 5y

Hooked_on_books What a powerful experience for you. And amazing to be able to replicate the desired pilgrimage of the author. I‘m glad you‘ll have this memory. 5y

Kalalalatja 💔💔💔 5y

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Wow! What an emotional journey 💔 5y

Megabooks Cindy, there are tears in my eyes and I wasn‘t there. I‘m glad you were able to take this special journey and that rock has found its way to Israel when so many people didn‘t. Never again. 💙💙 Sending love, as always. 5y

erzascarletbookgasm 💔 and what a special rock you‘ve found! 5y

Cinfhen @Scochrane26 @KarenUK @Hooked_on_books @Kalalalatja @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Megabooks @erzascarletbookgasm What made this trip so unique is that every participant had a direct connection to someone affected by the Holocaust. Some had relatives who survived/ unfortunately others had those who perished. Our guide tried as best as possible to visit those places throughout Poland where our personal stories took place. 👇🏽 5y

Cinfhen We were brought to forests where someone‘s grandfather lived for 14 months, taken to a hidden cellar in an abandoned building where another participants SIL hid. We meet a Polish women (now 91) who‘s family hid a participants grandmother. We visited a massive burial pit inside a forest where entire villages were brought & shot. 👇🏽 5y

Cinfhen 400,000 Jews were murdered that way. One person‘s father was able to crawl out from the pit, the bullet had missed him and he managed to survive although he lost his entire family. It was an emotionally exhausting trip and one I‘ll be thinking about for a very long time. 5y

CarolynM I don't have any words to tell you how I feel about this. I could not have taken that trip, faced that horror so directly, and retained my sanity. Be extra kind to yourself for a while. Sending love💕 5y

Hooked_on_books Just incredible. I have no doubt this experience will be with you forever. I bet you‘re pretty wrung out yet fulfilled. 5y

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks You have been on an incredible journey... makes me so sad to think about this horrible atrocity... I‘m happy you and Nikki had this unforgettable time together... ok I‘m off to get tissues 😓 love you and miss you ❤️ 5y

LinesUponAPage What a poignant trip you are taking. My grandma‘s whole life (92 yrs) she believed her brother died at Auschwitz-Birkenau. A few years back my aunt and uncle (her children) visited and sweet talked the docent to show them the prisoner book. It showed my uncle as liberated, the date he was liberated and by which military group. He obviously could never find his family or didn‘t emotionally have the strength to go back to his old life. So tragic. (edited) 5y

Crazeedi @Cinfhen my heart breaks as I continue to remember. So special you were able to walk where these heros lived and died. Each one deserves to be remembered and honored. Many prayers prayed for Gods chosen people. 5y

Crazeedi @Cinfhen I visited the holocaust museum in DC and I've never been the same. I can only imagine walking where you walked. When you see with your eyes and hear with your ears, the reality of the atrocities burn your soul 5y

Cinfhen @Lifeisasnap so sad for your grandmother to have a brother survive the war and never find him, believing all that time he perished💔The struggles to survive didn‘t end with the war and I‘m still processing that fact. It is such an incredible accomplishment to wake day after day and live where everything you knew was stolen and taken from you. Such heartbreak. 5y

Cinfhen It has been an incredible journey @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks and I‘m so grateful I got to experience and process all the information with my daughter by my side. I heard so many stories of mothers having to make painful life altering decisions, things no human should have to consider so having Niki with me really reinforced how lucky I am @Hooked_on_books @CarolynM (edited) 5y

Crazeedi @Cinfhen ❤💔❤💔 5y

Cinfhen @Crazeedi It really was walking on hallowed ground/ and there was something extra meaningful about returning to Israel, the ancient land where the Jews of Europe were originally exiled from. It felt like a complete circle. Unfortunately pain, persecution and expulsion is something that haunts the Jewish people for thousands of centuries 😔 5y

LinesUponAPage @Cinfhen wow! Your journey is so much more than just visiting the camps. Incredible life changing experience. 5y

Cathythoughts Take care Cindy, what a journey you took .. thinking of you XXX 5y

Cinfhen Thank you dear @Cathythoughts xx I‘m slowly trying to pick up a book& start reading again but I‘m having trouble focusing ☹️ I don‘t want to wallow in grief but it‘s been difficult to just jump back into my daily life (although I‘m getting a mani today 😜) 5y

Reviewsbylola ❤️❤️❤️ 5y

Suet624 I have no more words to offer than what others have already said except to say to be gentle with yourself now. You are processing pain from generations of folks. Wrap yourself up in soothing things and hold yourself tenderly. It‘s an awful lot to process and pushing yourself to read books may not serve you. Much love to you. 5y

JaclynW Oh wow. What an incredible journey! Very emotionally exhausting.💔 Finding the heart shaped rock is such a beautiful moment. ❤ 5y

Cinfhen Thanks so much @JaclynW @Reviewsbylola @Suet624 I‘m not sure what I was expecting from this journey but it‘s something I can‘t put into words. I know coming back to Litsy gives me hope for future generations. I believe we are all spreading a different message, one of acceptance and understanding. ☮️💟 5y

JaclynW @Cinfhen I hope that same thing.💕💞💕💞 5y

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